Most of the time, my customers tell me what they want, such as using “this” handle, or “that type carving”, this wood, or that material in this, or that way, or other things that they assemble together in their mind from photos they’ve seen of my other work, or from other carvers, or collector’s books on walking canes.

Seldom does someone just turn me loose to do what I want. However, this cane was one of those projects. The customer is a CEO of a company I used to work for, and I’ve sold him quite a few things after quitting him to do crafts full time. So, we know each other, and this time he just turned me loose with only a little bit about the employee that is retiring soon. The guy likes Alabama Crimson Tide sports, and loves to sing in the church choir.

Hmm…. what to do?

I did another Amazing Grace themed cane several years ago for my Uncle Robert. I’ve been wanting to do another one, but different in some way. So I start thinking, “Maybe this singing in the choir thing would be the time to pull out the Amazing Grace theme again….”

But, I just didn’t know exactly what the details of the design would be, nothing seemed to come in clear.

I didn’t want it to be like my Uncle’s cane, I wanted to do something different. And to be honest, once I’ve accomplished a new thing once….I’m sort of “done”. There are others like that, maybe you are like that. I had a younger woodworker out to the shop this weekend, as I was trying to fuel his passion and imagination, and he expressed the same thing in his life. One, and done…onto the next challenge. And, I’m like that, quite a few of us woodworkers are like that also.

But for me, finding the inspiration of just exactly “what” to do next can be a challenge. Most of the time, customers tell me exactly what they want and I’m not faced with inspiration decisions. Maybe that’s why it’s hard, I don’t get enough practice…...

For those of us that are old enough to remember “Dad” making us stand by the TV and adjust the rabbit ears to make the show come in clearer….sometimes my lack of an inspiration for a new design feels like a TV with the antennae out of whack, it just doesn’t come in clear, snowy, you can almost make it out, squiggles, rolling, rolling, nope it’s gone again. Try some aluminum foil…..nope, move it back, raise your foot, stick out your hand….that’s it, don’t move!

Many folks my age remember the days before remote control, when the kids had to get up and change to one of the other 3 channels. Oh, the good old days, huh? But, I digress…...

Sometimes, inspiration doesn’t come on a schedule for me, I wish it did. When a deadline is looming, it can get pretty stressful. I feel like Pooh Bear poking his head saying, “Think, Think, Think…...”

I’ve learned to say instead, “Pray, Pray, Pray.”

This new Amazing Grace cane was like that for about a month. I knew I wanted to use that theme, but didn’t know how.

After selling my handcraft work for the past 16-17 years, I’ve learned that Customers don’t like to wait on my “inspiration”. Everyone seems to be on a schedule, and our culture’s understanding of originality and the time it takes to create something with a pair of hands from scratch, just, well, how do I describe it?....maybe that it just lacks in clarity….they just don’t know they don’t know…..

They don’t mean to not understand it, they just don’t understand what they don’t know about crafting an item from scratch. They watch TV and see complicated things whipped out of some factory, or crafted by some guy over weeks that is edited down to a 30-60 minute episode.

I wish it sort of worked like a machine….maybe even better, a time machine. I just give it a drawing in a computer file that I bought somewhere and hit “go” and then ship it, if the deadline has passed, just jump in the time machine and deliver it. But, I just don’t work like that, and really, I don’t want to work like that.

Pray, pray, pray, think…..

And Suddenly, like a “flash” in the middle of the night, an idea wakes me up. At that moment I just know it’s the right way to go. I don’t need to write it down. I don’t need to worry about forgetting it in the morning. When that “Flash” happens, I don’t forget it, and the problem has been solved, I just go back to sleep….even if my wife says I snore, I sleep well.

The “Flash” was to do something original, use the words to the gospel song Amazing Grace. But, did I really want to spend all that time carving letters on a small round object? Not really, but I’ve learned not to deviate or compromise after the “Flash!” even if it’s hard work.

I chose to carve the letters for the 5th verse to the gospel song “Amazing Grace”.

”When we’ve been here ten thousand years…bright shining as the sun.We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise…then when we’ve first begun.”

The lettering wraps up from the bottom, 72 lineal inches of text, following the ribbon twist style shaft that I made.

The shaft is black walnut, the handle is bird’s Eye Maple with burled walnut and spalted sycamore rings.

On the back end of the handle in the burled walnut pointed section, I carved the letter “T” to represent the last name of the retiring recipient. The lettering has gold acrylic paint. The finish is danish oil and satin lacquer.

So, instead of putting the company logo on it like every other retirement gift has these days, I put the 5th verse of Amazing Grace, which speaks to the Christian’s hope in eternity…..and it’s my favorite verse of the song.

Ah, it feels good to be done with this one…..

Thanks for looking,Mark DeCou

(note: all text, photos, and project design are protected by copyright 2013 by the Author, no use in whole, or part is allowed without the expressed written authorization of M.A.DeCou)

You can contact these gallery stores directly and see what they still have in stock. They will ship to you if you buy something. If you prefer, you can also email me, as I keep fairly current on what is “unsold.”

I enjoy sculpting walking canes. Some folks call them Folk-Art Canes, while others call them Artisan Canes, some call them Carved Canes, while others call them Walking Sticks. There is quite a bit of argument about whether something should be called Sculpture or Carving. They could be considered Functional-Art, which is the type of work that I am usually drawn to. No matter what these canes are called, they seem to bring joy to the owners, and I have been asked to make quite a few of them in the past 5-6 years.

I started making canes on the request of a nice married couple I met on a church-building short-term mission trip to Mexico City in the early 1990’s. Several years after our trip, their son-in-law was diagnosed with bone cancer, and so they wanted to get him a specially made cane that he would enjoy using. They had heard from others that I had quit my corporate office job and started doing woodworking full-time. So, they contacted me to make his cane.

Sadly, I also built him a casket, another first for me, about a year later

Since the time I did that first Cane for Bryan, I have enjoyed the work on the canes that I have been able to make, but more importantly, the people that I have been able to meet and help along the journey. I do make a bunch of unique items and furniture, but without a doubt, I receive more correspondence and thank-you cards from cane customers than any of the other items I make, combined. So, they are fun for me to build, and I look forward to each new person and situation.

To keep a handle on all of the memories, I engrave a small serial number on each brass cane tip, and then I keep a detailed database log of each cane, customer, and situation. The list always brings me warm memories each time I scan it and remember the folks that have supported my work over the years, and vice versa.

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Still Want to See more of my work?

Start with each of these links, and they will take you to other organized lists of my other niche products:

Let me first say that Amazing Grace is a hymn with special importance to me. When my amazing neighbor Grace died last year, I cried the whole time it was sung at her memorial service. Her license plate was “Amazing”.You could have taken a plank of wood that you found in a dump and etched those lyrics and I would be deeply touched. Instead you made another mind blowing walking stick that is AMAZING in every way.That makes my day. Thank you for your wonderful skills and kind heart. Aloha…....

Mark, beautiful work. That is a lovely cane. You are a fabulous craftsman and artisan. That is evident in all the great project you have shared with us. You are also a wonderfully gifted story teller and I enjoy reading your posts as much as I do seeing your projects.